Turned At Darkness
by Unofficially Allison
Summary: Della Tsang's Life spun out of control in what seemed like minutes, Join her on her own beginning of the end when she finds out when she's a lot less human than she thinks. Set before Born at Midnight but will intertwine into the first book later on! R.R


_**TURNED AT DARKNESS CHAPTER 1#**_

_**A.N. Alrighty for all those who haven't had time to check out C.C Hunters awesome add on story, about how Della became who we all came to know as the 'Bad Ass Vamp' this is something you just need to read and it's a carry on after the Official Turned at Darkness short story. Okay so below in the first chapter is C.C's work mainly though I did try to alter it, After this chapter it's all me, the plan is I'm going to tie this into the first book which will be mostly in Della's POV and slightly before Born At Midnight. Confessing enough? Well I thought so :) Anyway cutting it short here (or at least trying to) I will explain as I go through the upcoming chapters, but for now ENJOY :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I Rachel Bennett, DO .**_**NOT**_** .OWN .The .Shadow Falls Series. Happy C.C Hunter?**_

_Sixteen-year-old Della Tsang had never seen a ghost until she saw her dead_

_cousin zip across the street and duck into the alley. If it hadn't been for the streetlight_

_spitting out its spray of wattage overhead, she might have missed him._

_And if it hadn't been for a scar that ran along his chin, she might have thought it_

_was just someone who looked like Chan. Then again, it was after midnight. But she had_

_spotted the scar. A scar she'd sort of given him when they'd been six, jumping on the_

_trampoline and he'd collided with her head._

_Hardheaded Della had been her family nickname after that. Sometimes Della_

_wondered if she'd really been obstinate then, or if the name had just been another thing_

_for her to live up to. _

_Being of Asian descent, there were high expectations, sometimes_

_too high. But because she and her sister were half-white, her father insisted they work_

_twice as hard to prove that their parents' love hadn't tainted the family tree._

_A pair of headlights moving down the road pulled Della's attention from the alley_

_where Chan had disappeared. Not that she completely believed it was Chan. _

_Did she?_

_The car drew nearer, and thinking it was Lee to pick her up, Della stepped off her_

_best friend Lisa's front porch, leaving the sound of the party still going on behind her._

_At least twice a month, Della and Lee tried to sneak away so they could be_

_together for an entire night. She knew her parents would freak if they knew she and Lee_

_were sleeping together. It wouldn't even matter that they were practically engaged. But_

_at least Lee had gotten a stamp of approval from her father. Luckily, she agreed with_

_him, too. Not that she agreed with her father on everything. However, Lee was_

_everything Della wanted in a boyfriend_hot, popular, smart, and thankfully for her_

_father's sake, Asian. It didn't even bother her that Lee wasn't totally into the party_

_scene._

_She gave the alley one last look. It couldn't have been Chan. She'd attended his_

_funeral less than a year ago—had seen his casket being lowered into the ground. She_

_remembered she hadn't cried. Her father had insisted she not. She wondered if her_

_father would be disappointed if he knew that very night, while alone in bed, she had_

_cried her eyes out._

_When the car drove closer, Della realized she'd been wrong. It wasn't Lee. She_

_watched as the car moved down the street, past the alley. She stood there, staring,_

_suddenly feeling alone in the dark, when her phone beeped with an incoming text._

_Pulling it out, she read the message. Parents still up. Will b late._

_Frowning, she re-pocketed her phone and her gaze shifted back to the alley._

_What would it hurt to just . . . go check? To prove that ghosts didn't exist._

_Moving slowly in the shadows, she neared the alley. The cold of the January_

_night seeped through her leather jacket and the soft tap-tapping of her footsteps_

_seemed loud. Maybe too loud. No sooner had she cut the corner than she heard yelling._

_She stopped short. Her breath caught at the sight of the fight—or out-and-out war—_

_taking place. The sound of fist hitting flesh filled the cold darkness and she saw bodies_

_being tossed up in the air like rag dolls._

_Della might not have been familiar with this darker side of life, but she_

_immediately knew what she'd stumbled on. A gang war. Her heart jumped into her_

_throat. She had to get out of here and fast._

_She stepped back, but the heel of her shoe twisted and she lost her footing. Her_

_leg shot up in the air and she went down with a loud thud._

_Slamming butt first, her hands went back to catch herself. She felt a sharp pain in_

_her palm, no doubt from a piece of glass from a broken beer bottle a few inches away._

_Wincing, she muttered, "Shi . . ." _

_The one-word curse hadn't yet left her lips when the_

_dead silence suddenly drew her attention upward. The fighting had stopped and at least_

_six guys, young, about her age, starting moving toward her. Moving oddly, as if . . . Their_

_posture reminded her of a pack of animals coming to check out their prey._

_Della's focus shifted from the group's strange body movements to their eyes._

_Her heart jolted when she saw their eyes glowing burnt orange. Then low growling_

_noises filled the shadows. _

"_What the_"_

_Before she could finish her sentence, they were upon her. _

"_Human. Yum," one of them said. Tension filled her chest. _

"_I'm leaving." _

_She jumped to her feet. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her, and knew they had her surrounded._

_The growling escalated and for a second she could swear the sounds weren't human._

_She turned, hoping to find a path to run, but instantly something grabbed her around_

_her middle and a cold wind blasted against her face. She felt dizzy, disoriented, as if she_

_were suddenly traveling at high speeds like she was on a roller coaster. She tried to_

_scream, but no sound came out. Darkness surrounded her and it took a second to_

_realize she had her eyes closed. She tried to open them, but the rush of air coming at_

_her stung so badly she slammed them shut. What the hell was happening? Now it felt_

_as if . . . as if she were flying._

_Or falling. No, not falling_someone, or something had her._

_Her lungs screamed for air, but what she thought was an arm wrapped around_

_her stomach, cutting off her ability to breathe. She tried to yank herself free, but her_

_efforts were futile. Whoever had her was built of steel, and his flesh felt cold, hard._

_Something wet seemed to ooze from her hand and she realized it was her blood from_

_where she'd cut herself._

_Right then, the cut started to burn. Burn badly, as if someone had just doused it_

_with rubbing alcohol. The searing pain seemed to follow her arm upward, all the way to_

_her chest, and for a second, her heart didn't beat. She gasped, hoping to breathe, but_

_nothing seemed to get through to her lungs. Refusing to let the fear stop her, she forced_

_the words out, _

"_Let me go, you asshole!"_

_A jolt shot through her body as her feet hit the ground. The arm released her._

_Her knees buckled, but she caught herself at the last second and shot her eyes open._

_Blinking, she tried to focus, but everything appeared blurry._

"_Breathe," someone said and she recognized the deep, masculine voice._

_Recognized Chan._

_Ghosts did exist?_

_No, they couldn't._

_A couple more seconds later, her vision cleared and holy mother of pearls, she_

_was right. Chan stood directly in front of her. Nausea hit. Her palm still burned. She_

_grabbed her middle, bent over, and puked all over the front of her dead cousin._

"_Oh, shit!" He lurched back._

_She stood upright again and stared, thinking that any minute now she'd wake up._

_Or maybe it wasn't a dream. Had someone slipped something into her drink tonight?_

_She pressed her palms into her eyes and didn't care that she was probably smearing_

_blood from the cut on her hand all over her face._

_When she dropped her hands, Chan stared, only now his black eyes glowed a_

_bright green color._

_He jumped back from her. _

"_You're bleeding!"_

"_You're dead."_

_She pressed her bloody hand on her middle hoping to squelch the nausea and wipe away the sting._

_He pinched his black brows together and stared harder. _

"_Friggin' hell! You're turning."_

"_No, I'm not! I'm standing still. In one spot," she snapped. "Then again, I do feel_

_dizzy." _

_She closed her eyes and then popped them back open again._

"_You needed help so I . . . I didn't know you'd cut yourself or_"_

"_I did not need your help, I would have . . . I would have figured something out."_

_He shook his head. "Still hardheaded, huh?"_

_She hugged herself. "What just happened? No, what is happening?" _

_She looked around and saw they were no longer anywhere near Lisa's house or that dark alley_

_where she'd gone looking for . . . _

"_You're dead, Chan. How can you be here?"_

_He shook his head and stared at her forehead. _

"_If I'd known you were bleeding, I wouldn't have . . . I should have known you were a carrier. But if I hadn't got you out of there, the dogs would have eaten you alive."_

_She stopped listening and tried to make sense of the crap that had just_

_happened. She remembered seeing the gang fight, then she fell, and then she'd been_

_surrounded, and . . . _

"_Oh damn, am I dead?"_

"_No. But you're going to think you're dying in just a bit. You touched me with an_

_open wound. Your virus is turning live now. That's why you're feeling like you do." _

_He stopped talking and put his nose in the air. _

"_Damn, the hounds are looking for us. I've got to get you out of here." _

_He reached for her and she jumped back._

"_Stay away. You've got puke all over you."_

"_It's your puke."_

"_I don't care. I don't want it on me. I think_" _

_Whatever she thought went out the mental window. Once again, the wind whipped her hair around her shoulders. The long strands flipped around so hard, it stung when they slapped against her face._

_Della's head hurt something fierce. Was this her official first hangover? How_

_many beers had she had, only one, right? She never drank more than . . . She opened_

_her eyes, and found herself staring at her bedroom ceiling. She knew it was her_

_bedroom, because she could smell the vanilla-scented candles and the Lemon Pledge_

_she'd faithfully polished her furniture with every Friday. And her pillow still smelled like_

_Lee, from when he'd dropped her off at home from school on Monday and no one was_

_home. She loved how he smelled. But how had she gotten home from the . . ._

_Fragments of memories started forming__

_Chan, _

_the gang fight, flying._

_Flying?_

_She jackknifed up. Her head nearly exploded. _

"_Crap," _

_she muttered and told herself it had been a dream._

"_Hey, cuz."_

_His voice came at the same time the nausea did. She turned and for the second time puked all over her dead cousin._

"_Ahh, gross," Chan said, but then he snickered. "I guess I deserve this. Not that I_

_meant for this to happen. I really didn't." _

_But then he laughed again. Della wasn't laughing. _

"_What's happening?" _

_Tears, partly from the frustration, partly from the pain, filled Della's sinuses. She forced them away. She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt and saw her leather jacket tossed over the foot of her bed._

_Chan put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a nudge. _

"_Lie back down and I'll explain."_

"_There was a gang war," she muttered, trying to remember._

"_Yeah, vampires and werewolves. I went to watch. It's cool to watch us take out a few dogs."_

_Her phone, sitting on her nightstand, beeped with an incoming text. She tried to_

_reach for it, but moving hurt. Another surge of tears filled her throat._

"_It's your lover boy," Chan said. _

"_This is like the tenth text he's sent. I think you missed your hookup date." Chan shook his head. _

"_So my little cousin is getting it on with a guy, huh? I feel like I should go beat him up or something."_

_She dropped back on the bed._

"_Do you want me to text him and tell him you're okay?"_

"_I'm not okay!" _

_Talking made her head pound worse. Realizing she was talking to a ghost make it pound twice as hard. Pain shot in the back of her eyes and she closed_

_them, wishing for relief._

"_What's wrong with me?" she muttered to herself and not to Chan, because_

_logic told her that Chan wasn't really there. Someone must have put something in her_

_drink at that party. Yeah. That had to be it._

_She heard a chair being pulled up beside her bed. _

"_You're not going to believe this, and that's to be expected. It will take a while to soak in. You see . . . I'm not dead. I. . . well, our family carries this virus. It's dormant and you can go your entire life and not even know it, but if and when we come in close contact with a live carrier, especially when there's blood involved, the virus turns active."_

"_I got a virus?" She swallowed another bout of nausea._

"_Yup."_

"_Bird flu?" she asked._

"_Not quite."_

"_West Nile?"_

"_No. Vampirism."_

_She opened one eye, that's all she could do, and peered at him. She would have_

_laughed if she didn't feel as if she were dying. _

"_I'm a vampire?"_

"_Not yet, it takes four days. And it's not going to be easy. But I'll help you_

_through it."_

"_I don't need your help." _

_She was her father's daughter, always figuring out how to help herself. _

_Della closed her one eye. Another pain shot through the back of her head, and she realized the way she had to help herself right now was to get help. But not from a ghost. Using every bit of energy she had, she got to her feet. The world started spinning._

"_Where are you going?" _

_Chan caught her right before she fell on her face._

_She started to ignore Chan, because he wasn't real, but what the hell. _

"_Gotta get Mom."_

_Whatever someone put in her drink was pretty powerful stuff because she was sitting here talking to a ghost about vampires._

"_I can't let you do that." _

_Chan pushed her back on the bed, not that it took much effort. She had about as much energy as a snail on Xanax, skinny-dipping in a cup of chamomile tea._

"_Mom?" Della screamed._

_Della wasn't sure if she'd been in the hospital three hours or ten. She wasn't_

_feeling any better, but at least she'd stopped hallucinating. Chan had disappeared. He_

_hadn't appeared since her mom found her in the fetal position, throwing up again._

_The nurses came in and out of her room, trying to force her to drink something._

_She didn't want to drink anything._

"_What the hell did she take?" _

_Della heard her father mutter._

"_We don't know she took anything," her mom answered._

"_Why would she do this to us? Doesn't she know how this will look?" her dad asked._

_Della considered trying to tell them one more time that the only thing she'd done was drink one beer. Earlier she'd almost confessed her theory that someone might have put something in her drink, but stopped when she realized that would've gotten Lisa in trouble. _

_Best to keep her mouth shut, and take whatever punishment came._

"_I don't give a damn how it looks! I just want her to be okay," her mom said._

_It was the same argument, different version. Mom hated Dad's pride. Della didn't like it either, but she understood it. She hated making mistakes, too. And on top of that, she'd seen the one-room apartment over a Chinese restaurant that her dad and his six siblings had been raised in. Her father and his family deserved to be proud of what they'd accomplished. And it hadn't happened by making mistakes._

_Della heard the hospital door open again. "Why don't you take a coffee break, I'm going to be here for a while," a female voice said. Della thought she'd heard the voice earlier. _

_Probably a nurse._

_The sound of her parents leaving filled the room. Della felt an overwhelming_

_gratefulness toward the nurse for sparing her from having to listen to the argument, but she didn't have what it took to express it._

"_You're welcome," the nurse said, almost as if she'd read Della's mind._

_Della opened her eyes. The nurse stood over her._

_Blinking, Della tried to focus, but then something weird happened. She could see_

_. . . something on the woman's forehead. _

_Weird crap. Like lines and stuff, like some kind of computer-jumbled pattern. She blinked hard and slowly opened her eyes again. It helped. The odd stuff was gone._

_Della went to push up and realized something else that was gone. _

_The cut on her hand. _

_How had it healed so fast?_

_The nurse smiled. "Has anyone talked to you yet?"_

_Della forced herself to reach for the large cup on the hospital table. _

"_About drinking my water. Yeah."_

"_No, about what's happening to you." The nurse took the cup from Della's hand._

"_Don't drink anything. It'll make you sicker."_

"_Sicker? Have they figured out what's wrong?"_

_The door swished open and a doctor walked in. He moved to the side of her bed and stared down at her. _

"_Does she know?" he asked the nurse._

"_Know what?" Della blurted out._

"_I don't think so." The nurse ignored Della's question._

"_Know what?" she asked again._

"_Her parents aren't live carriers?" the doctor asked._

"_No," the nurse answered._

"_Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here?"_

_The doctor met her gaze. _

"_Sorry. I know this is hard." _

_The intensity of his stare disturbed her. For some reason, everything about him disturbed her. Which was odd._

_She didn't normally instantly dislike people. It generally took at least fifteen minutes and a good reason._

_She started to close her eyes, and bam, the weird crap appeared on the doc's forehead._

_The doctor growled, a real growl. Della recalled the gang members doing—_

"_Someone knows." The doctor nodded back to the door._

_The hospital door swung open so hard, it slammed against the wall and sounded_

_as if it took out a chunk out of the plastered wall. Della glanced up, but the doctor_

_blocked her view._

"_What the hell are you doing to her?" Chan stopped on the other side of the bed._

"_Shit," Della said. "It's happening again." _

_And when she glanced at the nurse that crazy thing was on her forehead again. It was as if Della could see inside the nurse's head like in some cheesy B-rated movie. _

_She could see the front of her . . . brain. Yup, it looked like a brain, only it wasn't just wrinkled. It had strange-looking zigzaggy lines, a cross between bad modern art and ancient hieroglyphics._

"_What's happening?" the nurse asked._

"_I'm . . . seeing ghosts." _

_Della had to force herself to stop staring at the woman's brain. She looked at Chan and now he had something on his forehead, too. Only his brain looked different._

"_We're trying to help her," the doctor answered Chan._

_Della's breath caught. _

"_Can you see him, too?"_

_Chan snarled at the doctor, exposing his teeth, and she recalled the insane talk about vampires earlier. _

"_She doesn't need your kind of help, Werewolf!"_

"_Did you do this to her?" the doctor asked. _

"_Are you the one who infected her?"_

"_Yes," Chan seethed. _

"_But I didn't know she was bleeding, and if you must know, I didn't have a choice. It was snatch her up and get her out of the alley or let you dogs kill her!"_

_The doctor frowned. _

"_Have you at least explained it to her?"_

"_I tried," Chan said. "She's not buying it."_

"_Buying what?" Della asked, blinking furiously, trying to get the crap off_

_everyone's forehead. _

"_He's dead," she snapped._

"_We have to get her out of the hospital before Phase Two hits," the nurse said._

_Phase what? Nothing was making sense now._

_The doctor looked at Della. _

"_Look, your cousin isn't dead. He's . . . a vampire and thanks to his carelessness, like it or not, you're about to become one, too."_

_Della's head started to pound again._

"_I have to go," Chan said. "Her parents are coming up in the elevator."_

"_Wait." The doctor said to Chan, _

"_If I get her released, will you see her through this?"_

"_I don't need anyone's help!" Della insisted._

"_Of course, I will," Chan said. "She's my cousin."_

_The nurse looked back at Della. "When the turn is complete, I want you to call_

_this woman."_

_She handed Della a card. When Della didn't take it, the nurse placed it in her hand._

"_Call who?" Chan asked as he backed toward the door._

"_Holliday Brandon. She's the director of the Shadow Falls Camp. She can help."_

"_Oh, hell no! Della's not going to that stupid camp to get brainwashed by the government."_

_The nurse's shoulders tightened. "They don't brainwash anyone. They'll help her decide what's best for her."_

"_I know what's best for her. She's going to come live with me."_

_Live with Chan? _

_Della struggled to keep up with the crazy conversation. Then she heard the elevator bell ding as if it were right outside her door._

"_And fake her death, like you did? That's why she thinks you're a ghost, right?"_

_The nurse shook her head. "Is that really what you want for her? To have to walk away from her entire life, her family?"_

_Chan didn't answer. Della only saw a blur appear where he'd stood. The door_

_swung back open and caused another chunk of plaster to rain down on the floor. The doctor and nurse looked back at Della with pity, sympathy. Della scowled at them._

"_The nurse's right," the doctor said. "Call Shadow Falls. Trust your cousin to help get you through the next few days, but after that, don't believe everything he tells you. You look like a smart girl. Make up your own mind. With proper planning, we can live normal lives."_

"_We?" Della asked._

"_Supernaturals," he said and pointed to his chest. _

"_Werewolf." _

_He motioned to the nurse. "Fae. And you're vampire. There are others, but you'll learn about them in time."_

_Della slumped back onto the pillow. _

"_So it's official?" she muttered._

"_What's official?" the nurse asked._

"_I've lost my mind."_

"_You need to eat and drink something," Della's mother said and handed her a cup with steam billowing above the rim._

_Della had been out of the hospital for a day. Her head pounded like a mofo, her_

_body hurt like the worse case of flu she'd ever had. And mentally she was slipping. Her_

_assessment no longer hinged on the fact that she saw Chan. It hinged on the fact that_

_she was this close to believing him. She was turning into a vampire. And, according to_

_Chan, the first two days were a stroll down Easy Street in flip-flops compared to what_

_the next two would be._

_She pulled the cup of hot tea to her lips, pretended to drink, hoping to appease_

_her mom. The nurse, and then Chan, had told her that eating or drinking anything would_

_make things worse. Oh, Della hadn't taken them at their word. Nope. She had to go_

_prove it._

_She'd never heard of anyone puking up a vital organ, but odds were she was missing a lung right now. Thank God, she had two._

"_Lee called again," her mom said, straightening Della's covers._

"_Is he coming over?" Della managed to ask, torn between wanting to see him,_

_and not wanting him to see her like this. Upchucking a lung didn't leave one looking their best._

"_I told him he could, but he said his mom was worried you might be infectious."_

"_She never liked me." Della closed her eyes._

"_Why would you say that?" Her mom stood up._

_Because I'm half-white. "I don't know," Della lied and opened her eyes. "Because I'm too ballsy."_

_Her mom squeezed Della's hand. "You are too ballsy. Too independent. Too stubborn. A lot like your dad. But I love him, too." She brushed Della's bangs from her brow._

_When her mom left, Chan stepped out of the closet. He edged up against the_

_bed. _

"_You're about to hit Phase Three."_

"_How do you know?" she asked and oh, damn but every nerve ending in her body seemed to scream. If this was Phase Three, she didn't like it one damn bit!_

"_Your heart rate is increasing," he said._

_Della pushed her head back into the pillow and muttered some ugly words._

"_Listen to me, Della. This is very important. When your parents come in here, you have to act normal. Whatever happens, we can't let them take you back to the hospital."_

"_Why not?" she asked and moaned._

"_There's too much blood there. You might lose it. Even the smell of blood might send you over the edge. The first feeds have to be controlled feeds."_

_Another pain wracked her body and she bit her lip to keep from screaming. _

"_Can I die from this?" She bunched up a fistful of blanket and squeezed. She hated being scared. Hated it because it was a sign of weakness._

_His black eyes met hers. "Yeah."_

_Another sharp pain exploded in her head. _

"_Am I going to die?" Her thoughts shot to Lee. She wanted him to be here to hold her. If she died, she wanted to see him one last time. Then her thoughts shot to her little sister, Joy. Della had sworn to be there for_

_her, to make sure no one ever bullied Joy, like they had her. _

_For some crazy reason, Della knew her sister wasn't as strong as she was._

"_No, you're not going to die," Chan said, but Della saw the doubt in his eyes._

"_You're too hardheaded. Hardheaded Della can't die. You hear me? You can't die, Della._

_You're going to be strong."_

_Two days later, Della slowly drifted awake. _

_She'd slept fitfully for most of the past forty-eight hours. She recalled sitting up and pretending to eat when her parents came in, so she wouldn't get stuck going back to the hospital. And she remembered talking to Chan a few times. But she'd been so feverish and out of it that her memory was still hazy. _

_She opened her eyes and quickly slapped her hand over them to block the sun spilling through her window. _

"_Stop that," she seethed._

"_Who are you talking to?" Chan asked._

"_The sun!" she growled and nearly cut her tongue on her teeth._

"_It pisses me off, too. We're night people now. But it's about to go down." _

_Chan must have lowered the blinds, because the burning brightness faded. He continued talking. _

"_As soon as your parents go to bed, we're going out. I need to educate you."_

"_Educate me in what?"_

"_Your new life."_

_She moved her hand from her eyes and looked around. The first thing she saw was the flowers. _

_Red roses._

_Lee? _

_Yes, she recalled her mother bringing them in and reading her the card. Lee said he loved her._

_She smiled and realized she didn't hurt. _

_Not her head. Not her gut. In fact, she felt . . . good. Strong. _

_She felt more alive than ever._

"_I'm well!" She stretched out her arms and did a little bed dance._

"_Yeah, you made it. Scared me for a while there, but_"_

"_Where's my cell?" She wanted to call Lee._

"_In the drawer, so I wouldn't have to listen to all the beeping. Your lover boy is worried about you."_

_Right then, all their talk about vampirism ran through her head. _

_Did she really believe? _

_And if she didn't, how could she explain Chan? _

_She pushed it out of her mind, and decided to enjoy not feeling like day-old dog poop for a few seconds before_

_traveling down that road. A road she somehow knew was going to cause her a lot of pain._

_Sitting on the side of the bed, she remembered Chan propping her up on pillows and telling her to fake being okay, every time he heard her parents walking up the stairs. _

_She couldn't remember how well she'd done, but probably not too badly because they never bundled her up to take her to the hospital._

_She stood, stretched, and looked down at the chair positioned by the bed. And bam, she was slammed with the memory of Joy, her little sister stepping inside the room. She'd held Della's hand and cried. Cried silently because even her sister knew how her dad hated weakness._

_Joy's words played like sad music in Della's head. _

"_Please don't die, Della. You're supposed to help me, help me learn to be strong like you."_

_A big ache filled Della's chest. She was so glad she hadn't died and let Joy down. Looking at the window, she had a vague memory of . . . standing on the roof._

"_Did we go somewhere?"_

"_Yeah, you were getting cabin fever—needed to sort of test your wings. You did_

_good, too."_

_Suddenly, she recalled moving at amazing speeds and feeling the wind in her face. _

_What was real?_

_Her stomach growled. _

"_I'm starved," she muttered._

_Chan pointed to a big plastic cup with a straw. "You didn't finish your breakfast."_

_She reached for the drink and sipped. _

_A thousand different flavors exploded in her mouth. _

_Berries, dark chocolate, tangy melon. Flavors she didn't even recognize, but somehow knew she couldn't live without now that she had sampled them._

"_What is this?" She licked her lips and immediately started drinking again._

_His right brow arched. "It's what you'll be living on from now on. Blood."_

_She almost gagged, then stopped herself. She'd bitten her tongue before. _

"_Blood doesn't taste like this." She yanked the top off and stared at . . . at what looked like blood._

"_How can . . ."_

"_Nothing will taste like it did before. Don't you remember gagging on the chicken soup your mom brought you?"_

_She looked at her cousin and vaguely remembered trying to eat the soup. _

"_Tell me you're lying."_

"_Sorry. Everything is different now. No use in me trying to sugarcoat things. Just accept it."_

_She stared down at the thick red substance in her cup. _

"_This can't be real."_

"_It's as real as it gets."_

"_Oh, God!" _

_She put the cup on her nightstand and stared at it. _

"_What kind of blood?"_

"_AB negative. O is better, but I couldn't find any."_

"_That's . . . that's human blood?" Her stomach churned._

_He nodded. "Animal isn't nearly as good. But you'll learn about that in time. I have a lot to teach you."_

_She cupped a hand over her mouth and stared at the cup. But even as the thought of drinking blood sickened her, even as a part of her vowed not to become this monster, her mouth watered for another taste, another swallow._

_She hadn't ever known real hunger or thirst, but this . . . the feeling that said if she didn't finish what was in that cup right now she might die, had to be the closest thing she'd ever experienced._

_Chan went to grab the cup. Before she knew what she was doing she lunged,knocked him across the room, and grabbed the cup._

_He laughed. "I figured as much."_

_She finished the drink, and looked up at Chan. "I need more."_

"_I know. Right after you turn, you're ravenous. I think I put down fifteen pints my few first days. But you're going to have to wait until after your parents go to bed."_

"_I want it now," she hissed, not even recognizing her own voice._

"_They didn't card me?" _

_Della said, following Chan into the club several hours later. _

_The place was dark, lit up by only a few candles, but amazingly she didn't have much trouble seeing. Or hearing. Noise, crowd noise, the chattering of different conversations, and people shifting in their chairs, came at her from every direction, but somehow she could shut out the parts of it that she didn't want to listen to. However,_

_the ambience didn't stem from the noise or the lighting. Energy vibrated in the place._

_Della felt it, felt it feeding her, like some forbidden drug._

"_The only card you need for this place is right here." He touched her forehead._

_Immediately, Della remembered the weird things she'd been seeing on everyone's forehead. She grabbed his arm. _

"_What is that? The forehead thing?"_

_He grinned. _

"_It's your ID. All supernaturals have the ability to read brain patterns, and eventually you'll learn to tell who is what. And if you concentrate just a little bit you can get behind their shields and know if they're friend or foe."_

_He pointed across the room. "Look at the guy in the green shirt. Tighten your eyes, and stare at his forehead and tell me what you see."_

_At first all Della saw was his forehead and then . . . "I see . . . swirly lines."_

"_Now look at my pattern. "Do you see the similarities?" Chan asked._

"_Yes. But they're not identical," she said._

"_Not identical, but he's vampire. Brain patterns are like tracks in the snow, sooner or later, you'll be able to know what kind of animal made that print."_

_She nodded and glanced around the room._

"_Look at that big guy's pattern, the guy in the black coat," he said._

_She did. The pattern was completely different. Horizontal lines and . . ._

"_Now look deeper. Keep staring. Open your mind."_

_She concentrated and what she saw was black and dark and gave off the impression of danger. _

_She took a step back._

_He laughed. "It's okay. He's not going to hurt you. Not here, anyway. But meet him in a dark alley, and who knows."_

"_I wasn't scared," she insisted, but she knew it was a lie and she heard her own heartbeat speed up as if punctuating the fib._

"_You should be. He's Werewolf and not someone you want to associate with."_

_Della remembered. "The doctor. He was a werewolf and he didn't seem . . ._

_bad."_

"_They are all bad." He looked around. _

"_There's a fae, the pretty brunette in the pink dress. Well, she's half fae, half human."_

_Della tightened her brows and recalled the pattern of the nurse in the hospital. "I think I sort of understand. But if these people don't get along, how come they come to the same bar? And why would they work together?"_

"_Because some supers think we should live as one big happy family. Like humans who want to live alongside lions. And I admit I've had my fair share of fun toying with a few breeds." He wiggled his brows. "Especially humans. It's fun to play with our food."_

_Della took a step back._

"_You're human. How can you . . ."_

"_I told you earlier, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not human anymore. Neither_

_are you. You need to start looking at humans as prey because that's all they are for us."_

_Della put a hand over her mouth._

"_The blood earlier, you didn't . . . hurt anyone."_

"_Got it from a blood bank." He glanced away, almost too quickly, as if he were lying. _

"_Oh, see the little guy in the black shirt? Check his pattern out, but . . . if he looks this way, glance away, quick."_

_Emotions swirled around Della's chest. She stared at Chan._

"_Look at him, Della. This is important. You need to know this shit."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because he's a shapeshifter. You need to be able to recognize them so you can stay clear of them. They are one pissed-off breed. All that changing forms messes with their psyche. Most of them would just as soon kill you as speak to you in passing."_

_Her emotions were again swarming in her chest._

"_Don't worry," Chan said. "Where you're going to live, you won't—"_

_Della recalled vague snippets of conversation about leaving her family. She couldn't do that. _

"_Chan, I . . ."_

"_I'm taking you back to Utah with me. It's a vampire community. I'm actually thinking about joining a gang, and if you want to, we both can—"_

_She shook her head. _

"_Even if I wanted to go with you, my parents would never let me go."_

"_Which is another reason we're here. There's a guy here, a mortician, he's going to help us fake your death. How do you wanna go, car crash? Maybe you fall and hit your head when you get out of the tub. He's really good."_

_Della stood there staring at him, the dark candlelit atmosphere making it seem surreal. Instantly, she remembered how Chan's parents had been devastated at his funeral, how his little sister and hers had cried. How Della had wanted to cry, but her daddy kept looking at her and reminding her she had to be strong._

"_No," she said to Chan. "I won't do this."_

"_You don't have a choice."_

"_No!"_

_And just like that, Chan disgusted her. She had to get away from him. Away from everything he was telling her. She shoved him hard. Harder than she intended to. She saw him fly across the room. She didn't wait to see him land, or even to see if he was okay. She took off, darting between tables until she saw a door and ran for it. That_

_room was even darker—only two or three candles were placed on a bar. She darted away from the light, hoping to hide, hoping to lose herself in the crowd._

_Suddenly a guy grabbed her by her forearms. _

"_Slow down, sweetcakes. You okay?"_

_Sweetcakes? _

_She looked at him, but with tears in her eyes, her vision wasn't quite focused. Suddenly his forehead opened up and she saw his pattern. She didn't know what he was, but when she looked deeper, she got a sleazy feeling._

_He leaned closer. His breath smelled like onions. _

"_I ordered this for me, but I think you need it more." _

_He placed a warm shot glass in her hand._

_She was about to drop it away when the smell hit her. _

_The exotic flavors. _

_She brought the glass to her lips and swallowed it in one gulp. _

_It was better than any alcohol she'd ever tasted. Even better than the blood she'd drunk earlier._

"_What was that?" She licked her lips to collect the last taste._

"_O negative. Freshly drained." The guy smiled. _

"_My name's Marshal. How about we go back to my place? I got some of this stuff at home, too."_

_The seediness of his presence suddenly overwhelmed her. _

"_Ever heard of statutory rape, you pervert?" Della seethed, realizing the guy was older than her dad._

"_Need some help?" asked a girl who suddenly stood beside them. _

_Dressed Goth, her eyes brightened a gold color. Della tightened her brows to read the girl's brain pattern, and decided she was most likely a werewolf. _

_The girl grabbed the man._

_The man shoved the girl down and grabbed Della. _

_Della lost it and tossed him across the room the way she had Chan, then she took off for another door, but not_

_before looking back and seeing the girl who'd helped her give her the thumbs-up._

_Della couldn't help but wonder if Chan was wrong about werewolves._

"_Don't believe everything he tells you. You look like a smart girl. Make up your own mind." The doctor's words played in her head, but she didn't have time to think._

_She heard the dirty old man spouting out orders to someone to find her and bring her back so he could teach her a lesson._

_She'd learned enough lessons for one day, Della thought._

_She ran faster, knocking over tables and chairs, and occasionally the chairs weren't empty. _

"_," she said as she went, moving through the dark, crowded spaces._

_She smelled beer, and heard the clinking sound of ice swirling in drinks. The club was like an old_

_house, a lot of cubbyholes and tiny rooms filled with card tables for people to group together. _

_The interior felt as if someone had just kept building on, creating an almost mazelike atmosphere. She moved aimlessly, through one door, then another, or maybe it wasn't so aimlessly._

_She followed something. She just didn't know what it was until . . . until she did know. The smell._

_Blood._

_She entered another room, and three men lay stretched out on beds, needles in_

_their arms and blood being drained from their bodies._

_Her first thought was that they were being forced to give up their life-sustaining_

_substance; her second thought was . . . Yum. Her stomach grumbled and she licked her_

_lips. _

_Then her last thought sickened her._

_She took a step back, afraid of the urges vibrating through her body, but then the smell entered her senses and her mouth watered._

"_If you're wanting to buy it, you'll have to go to the bar," said one of the men._

"_We work for Tony and we'll get our ass burned if we start selling by the pints in here. But if you want to take one of our cards, we can talk later."_

_Della watched as one man got up, pulled a needle out of his own arm, and sealed off the bag with some kind of plastic clamp. But the ripe smell of all those exotic flavours filled the room. She watched as he put the blood on a metal tray._

"_Hungry, aren't you?" he asked and he smiled at her. _

_She tightened her eyes and saw he had a pattern similar to the nurse. _

_Was he fae?_

_She inhaled, the smell again filling her nose. Realizing they offered to sell her the_

_blood later, she concluded that they obviously weren't being forced to give up blood._

_Somehow that made her desire for it less hideous._

_Her heart raced. Her stomach grumbled and she dove over the man, her only goal, her only desire to get her hands on that bag of blood._

_She got it. The other men stood up from their beds. The needles were yanked from their arms, blood spilling on the floor, as they stood. She hissed at them, thinking_

_they would attack, but they all backed up, as if she frightened them. She knew she frightened herself. The deep, angry sounds parting her lips were unlike any sound she'd ever made._

_Moving backward, she found the doorknob and made it outside the door, but a loud ear-pinching noise filled her head. _

_Alarms. _

_She held the plastic bag of blood close to her chest and ducked between crowded tables. Heads turned and followed her every move. She realized that perhaps the others were like her and could probably smell the_

_blood. But she still didn't care._

_She needed this. Had to have it._

_Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm and yank her across the room. She_

_fought, but her attacker's strength matched her own. The alarms kept ringing, she heard_

_people running away from her and some toward her. Whoever had her continued to_

_pull her across the room. She glanced up and didn't see a door, no way to escape._

_Would she die here because she'd stolen blood? She tried to pull away, but couldn't._

_And then they crashed through a window, shards of glass fell around her, and in seconds_

_they were flying._

"_That was so stupid," Chan said. "You so could have gotten us killed."_

_She closed her eyes tight, preventing her weakness from showing, but on the_

_inside, where it counted the most, the tears fell. _

_What was happening to her? _

_What kindof monster had she become?_

_In a matter of minutes, she and Chan stood outside her house. Normally, he_

_landed on the roof and they crawled in her bedroom window. Not this time. She_

_clutched the blood to her chest as if it were a precious stone._

"_If you want it, you'd better drink now," he said, his frustration evident from his posture to his tone. _

"_Your parents are up and pissed."_

_The bag of blood in her hand was still warm. Somehow its scent leaked out of the_

_plastic and filled her nose. Della looked back at her house. _

"_How do you know they're up?"_

"_Focus. Your sensitive hearing should already be working."_

_She looked up at her bedroom window. "I can't hear . . ." _

_And suddenly she could. Her mom cried and her dad muttered about how he planned to find a good drug_

_rehab. She stared back at Chan. _

"_I'm not using drugs?"_

"_Yeah, but you're doing things you've never done, so they just assume. My_

_parents did the same thing." _

_He sighed. "But it doesn't matter what they think."_

"_It does to me," Della snapped back._

_He shook his head. "Can't you see how impossible living here will be? It's not like you can keep your blood supply in the fridge. You're not going to fit into their lifestyle now."_

_She shook her head. "I can't . . . I can't walk away from . . . Lee. I can't leave my sister. She needs me." And whether she wanted to admit it or not, she loved her parents, too._

"_Hardheaded Della," he muttered. "I should have known you'd have to find it out_

_for yourself. So go . . . walk in there with your blood and see if you can explain it." _

_He threw up his hands as if exasperated. "I'm leaving. Going back to Utah. How are you_

_going to get blood tomorrow or the next day? You can't live with humans anymore. You can't."_

"_They're my family," she said._

"_Not anymore. I'm your family. Other vampires are your family. You'll see. You_

_don't belong here."_

_She looked down at the bag of blood. Her hands shook. Her chest hurt with emotion._

"_Ah, screw it," Chan said and the fury in his eyes faded. _

"_Give me the blood. I'll bring it to you later. Go deal with your parents. But I'm telling you, I can't hang around_

_here to supply you with blood forever. Sooner or later, you're going to have to leave them. You'll see. I don't care how hardheaded you are, sooner or later, you're going to have to accept my help."_

_Della refused to cry. _

_No matter how harsh, how bitter her father's words were._

_She sat there on the sofa, her chin held high, taking the insults. Each one hurt a little bit_

_more. But damn it to hell and back. She wouldn't cry._

_Her father continued, telling her how she was a disappointment to him and his family legacy. How she'd brought shame down on her family name. How he would never be able to stand proud in public again._

"_Go to your room and think about what you have done!" he finally demanded._

_She left. _

_She couldn't get away from him, or her mom, fast enough. _

_Her mom had stood stone-faced and let him say those horrible things. _

_All of it a lie. _

_She wasn't taking drugs, or selling her body to different men to feed her obsession. She'd given her_

_body to one, Lee, whom she loved, who loved her. _

_When she got to her room and slammed the door, she tried to swallow the shame, the anger, the fury that filled her throat._

_Then the sweet smell of roses filled her nose. Her gaze shot to the arrangement._

_Suddenly, all she could think about was Lee. _

_She needed him to hold her, to tell her it would all be okay. _

_Rushing to the window, she flung it open and stared down at the grass two stories below. She stood on the edge for several seconds, unsure how she did this, but desperation made her jump._

_Landing on her feet without feeling any of the impact of the jump, she took a_

_deep breath and started to run. At first, it was slow, then faster and faster still. _

_Soon shewasn't even sure her feet touched the ground. As the wind whipped her hair around her_

_face, Della formed a new plan._

_She didn't have to go live with Chan in Utah; she and Lee could get their own_

_place. They had talked about it already. They would work part time and go to school._

_They could do this._

_In less than five minutes, she stood in front of Lee's house. She saw his window,_

_it was dark. Of course it was dark, it was two in the morning, but she didn't care. _

_She leapt up, grabbing hold of his ledge, and then she forced the window up. Thankfully, it_

_wasn't locked._

_When she climbed inside, Lee sat up. He blinked, stared at her with his dark_

_brown eyes, and then he ran a hand through his hair. _

"_Della?"_

_She moved closer. _

"_I . . . I had to see you. I missed you."_

"_Are you okay?"_

"_Yeah, I'm fine."_

"_You mom said the doctors didn't know what was wrong with you."_

"_They didn't, but I'm well now and I've been thinking . . . I want to be with you. I_

_want to get our own apartment like we talked about."_

_He stared at her, his hair mussed. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and he looked good._

_Sexy_

_She moved to the edge of the bed._

"_How did you . . . get inside?" He looked back at the window._

"_It was unlocked."_

"_But it's the second-story window." He scratched his head._

_She sat down beside him. _

"_I love you, Lee. I want to be with you, always."_

_Shereached out to touch him. His skin was so hot, felt so good. She just wanted to lie down_

_beside him, have him hold her._

_He flinched and pulled away. "You're cold. Really cold."_

_His words brought back something Chan had said when she'd been half out of it._

_Something about her body temperature changing, about how she couldn't let her_

_parents take her temperature anymore._

"_What's wrong with you?" he said, scooting away. _

"_You must still be sick."_

"_No," Della said. _

"_I'm fine, I'm just . . . I mean . . ." _

_What did she mean?_

_Was she going to tell Lee the truth?_

"_I'm not contagious," she said._

"_What did you have?" _

_He eased away, when all she wanted to do was to get closer. _

_She wanted him to hold her, to kiss her and make her forget everything that_

_happened these last few days. He raked a hand through his black hair. _

"_You should probably go. If you get caught here, you know how it will look."_

"_It will look as if we're sleeping together. Which we are. And I don't care if people know anymore."_

_She put her hand on his shoulder._

"_But I do care," he said. "Don't touch me." _

_He pushed her hand away. _

"_I . . . I'm sorry, but I don't like how you feel right now. Something feels . . . off about you. It's hard_

_to explain, but you just seem really weird right now. I think you should go home and talk_

_to your parents, get the help you need."_

_It hit her then._

_Hit her like an eighteen-wheeler without brakes._

_- Lee would never like how she felt.- If he was afraid of some kind of flu, how would he feel about_

_her being Vampire? _

_About her drinking blood?_

_Tears filled her throat, but like the daughter her father had raised her to be, she_

_didn't let a single tear fill her eyes. _

"_I see."_

_She stood up._

"_See what?" he asked._

_She moved to the window and swore she wouldn't look back, but she couldn't_

_help it. _

_She turned and met his eyes. For some reason, she suddenly saw something in_

_Lee that she hadn't seen before. She saw her father. And yet . . . _

"_I love you. I will always love you." _

_And with that she jumped out of his upstairs window. She heard him call her name, and pull back the covers._

_But she was gone before his feet touched the floor._

_When she got back to her room, she sat on the edge of her bed. Her stomach growled, her mouth watered, and she knew she needed . . . blood. Where was Chan?_

_Had he taken her O negative pint for himself? Had he abandoned her? She jumped up and went to the mirror and stared at herself. _

_her eyes were no longer dark brown, but golden. Bright hot yellow as if something inside her burned. And yet she was cold. _

_Too cold for Lee? She noticed her two canines were . . . sharp._

_Her pulse raced and she heard Chan's words bounce around her head. _

"_You can't live with humans anymore. You don't belong here."_

_Her chest ached and this time she did cry. Tears crawled down her cheeks._

_Accepting what she had to do, she grabbed her suitcase and tossed in a few things.,_

_When Chan got here, she would be ready. _

_Then, realizing she couldn't leave without . . ._

_without at least seeing her family one more time, she tiptoed out of her room and_

_headed down the stairs. Her parents' door was closed, but she eased it open just a bit._

_Just enough to see them one last time. Her mother was asleep on her father's chest. _

_Her mother might not like her father's pride, but she still loved him. She loved him because down deep she knew that her father had forsaken his pride to marry a white woman. In truth, he loved her mom more than his pride._

_Her throat tightened as she silently closed the door. Then she moved back up the stairs, but instead of moving toward her room, she went to Joy's room. The door wasn't closed. _

_She stepped inside and moved to the edge of the bed. Her sister rolled over and opened her eyes._

"_You feeling better?" she asked._

"_Yeah." _

_Della tried to keep her voice from shaking._

_Joy smiled that sleepy smile of hers that made her look younger than ten. _

"_I told Mom you wouldn't die, because you wouldn't leave me. You'd never leave me." _

_She dropped down on her pillow and drifted back to sleep._

_Tears filled Della's eyes and the pain of knowing she'd never see her sister again made her heart break. She got up and walked out of the room. She closed the door and saw her packed bag. She'd left the window open, hoping Chan would see it and come back. A breeze entered. It felt . . . colder. Unnaturally cold. Chills tiptoed up her spine._

_Something fluttering across the wood floor caught Della's eye. _

_She looked down at the card. She picked it up and saw the name Holiday Brandon scribbled across the_

_card. _

_Below the name was a telephone number and the words SHADOWS FALLS CAMP._

_Vaguely, she remembered the doctor and nurse telling her she could call someone, someone who could help her decide the right thing to do. _

_But she couldn't call a stranger and ask for help. Or could she?_

_Her thoughts went to her sister and Della reached for her phone and dialed._

"_Shadow Falls Camp," a woman answered. _

_Della couldn't speak. _

"_Is someone there?" asked the sleepy voice. _

"_Who is this?"_

_Another stream of tears silently slipped down Della's cheek. _

"_My name is Della Tsang and I need help."_

**A.N.**_**Woo! So that's the first chapter done and dusted! **_

_*** holds up duster***_

_**That took longer to type out than I expect... but anyway Let's give a round of applause for Della! Brave huh doing all that and all? Any who, All that credit goes to C.C Hunter since this is in fact her Fantastic Series! Anyway back to Della, Okay so Della is personally my favourite characters out of the Shadow Falls Series and I just had to write a story based on Her perspective. But this is not even **__**close**__** to being finished; I have a lot planned in my mind with the plot and some new and old characters. As for updating it all depends on the reviews and how inspirational I am feeling, Reviews make my day so the more reviews the faster the updates :) R.R and please tell me what you think of my pretty lame Idea!**_

_**Thanks!**_

_**Rachel~ **_


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